


The Sky Is Not My Limit

by Whatevergirl



Series: I'm Not Alone [1]
Category: Fantastic Four (Movies 2005-2007), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, But they are still friends, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Sue and Reed split up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2020-05-07 15:56:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19212709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatevergirl/pseuds/Whatevergirl
Summary: It's been a year since the Silver Surfer visited Earth, but Johnny still hasn't forgotten what it felt like to reach his limit alone and feel his flames die around him.But life goes on and despite their personal problems, there are always new enemies on the horizon.Rating may go up, but the Reed/Johnny romance isn't going to happen straight away.---The different stories exist in the same universe, but can be read separately





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from T.F. Hodge.
> 
> This originally started as a story about a sentinel 'verse (small, but still super-soldier) Steve visiting Tony from the MCU during the five-years-later gap. That one, and the story about Steve and Tony set in the AU will be posted in this series at some point.
> 
> \---  
> OPTIONAL NOTES :-)
> 
> Few notes about the way I'm setting this particular sentinel verse. It's in the story if you prefer to read it that way, but I'll put it here too in case you want to know what to expect going in.
> 
> Sentinels can have between one and five enhanced senses; in this, Reed is a sentinel with enhanced hearing, smell and taste.  
> Guides work more on the 'sixth sense' level of things, usually with high levels of empathy in an almost psychic way. There is some variation from one individual to another, but Johnny is able to influence the emotions of crowds to some extent, and individuals to a much lesser extent.  
> There are two types of bonds.  
> Surface bonds can form between sentinel and guide, or guide and guide. They allow a basic awareness of the other's emotions and are limited by distance. They can fade over time if the two lose contact and can be broken without pain. Sue and Johnny have a surface bond between them.  
> True Bonds are very rare, occurring in a very small number of pairings, and can only form between a sentinel and a guide. It is said they form when a pair's heart, soul and mind are perfectly compatible. They can form over time, but it typically forms quickly with skin contact. While it is theoretically possible to have more than one true bond, it is highly unlikely, and it is unknown if such a trio would be able to exist in harmony. True bonds allow pairs to communicate on the spiritual plane, which they can visit in meditation and they can see each other's spirit animal both in the spiritual world and the physical one. If the bond is strong enough, they can develop telepathy between the pair.  
> True Bonds can cause pain when the pair spend time apart, but this can be trained so they can have the bond and distance between them. They don't fade over time, but they can be broken if one partner rejects the bond. When this happens, the broken bond leaves the other partner in great pain, which was likely once a defence mechanism to allow the first person to escape a bad pairing.  
> Spirit animals are there to aid a sentinel or guide, usually when they are meditating.

“I’m just trying to explain…” Sue hissed to her husband as they stood together in the kitchen, “that if you put a little more effort into the team as a whole then this wouldn’t have happened.”

Reed glowered at her for a moment, but his expression faltered as he glanced over to the shut door. His super-sensitive ears could probably hear Johnny down the corridor, in the main living room; her little brother was perfectly aware that they were arguing in here, his true bond with Reed prevented any shut door from hiding their problems as her husband’s flaring emotions washed into the young man.

His face settled into a disappointed frown as he sighed. “I’m sorry, Sue.” His gaze lifted as he stepped back, and the change in lighting on his face highlighted the bags under his eyes. “There are only so many hours in the day…” his voice had taken on the placating tone that she honestly hated, but her own anger was quickly bleeding away. 

“I know.” She stepped closer and took his hand. ' _This isn’t working_ ' she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come. “You should get some sleep before those next results come in.” She nodded her head in the direction of his lab.

“I need to sit with Johnny for a while first.” He said softly, his tone apologetic as he pulled away again. 

She forced a soft smile to her face. “Then why are you in here? Go settle your bond and then go sleep.” 

He smiled, his own expressions tired, but genuine. “I love you.” He whispered, leaning over to peck her cheek before backing out the room. 

She stared after him in silence. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, but she honestly thought they were better off as friends. She didn’t want to throttle him all the time when they only spent a small amount of time together. It wasn’t even about the time though; he spent more time in his lab than with her and that was fine, he’d always been that way and she had expected it to continue once they were married. After all, the time spent apart really did help keep their relationship going. 

The unexpected bump in the road was his bond with her brother. Sue and Johnny had both been identified as guides at eleven, when the government sent people out to test everyone in 6th grade. She’d dreamed of having that rare true guide with her one true love and living a wonderful life. 

Those dreams had shattered when their mom had been killed a year later, some drunk smashing her car off the road. She’d been left with a devastated and soon alcoholic father and a five year old brother who had been able to understand that his mom had gone to heaven, but didn’t get why his dad was so angry now. She still hated the relief she felt when the man had died three years after that, having lost a gun fight with a loan shark. 

The two siblings had been put into care and bounced between one family and another; the families had been nice, but Johnny had already developed trust issues and a desperate need to impress everyone around him. She now supposed he had always been looking for that approval that their dad had failed to give him, but at the time she’d been dying to start college and get away from him. 

Still, she’d adopted him herself at nineteen, at the end of her second year at MIT and just after he had been identified as a guide. She’d been dating Reed then too, she remembered with a wry grin, but she couldn’t remember them ever interacting all those years ago. Reed had never been the most observant guy around and Johnny had been very quiet around everyone when he’d first moved in. 

“What’re you sitting on the floor for?” Johnny was in the doorway, a smirk on his face, but she could feel his hesitance under the surface. 

“Just having a think.” She smiled, pushing her musings away as she pulled herself up. 

“Sue…” Johnny’s confident mask fell away as he tugged her into a hug. “Am I… am I ruining everything?” 

“No.” she replied with utter conviction. “Reed and I have had problems since we started dating back at MIT. You didn’t start this.” 

“I don’t think I’m helping.” He said softly, his breath warm as he pressed his face into her hair. 

She relaxed into the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder as they stood together. If Johnny wanted a serious talk, then she knew it would be like this; he didn’t like to show his face when his mask was down. 

After a moment, she decided for honesty. “If the only problem was that you had a true bond with Reed instead of me, then it wouldn’t be a problem at all.” She rubbed a hand over his back, trying her best to reassure him without splitting herself open in the process. “We just…” she sniffed and felt Johnny tighten his grip on her. “I just… We’re good friends and we really had it good when we weren’t too serious at MIT. I think I might love the idea of being in love with Reed more than…” but her weak voice cracked and she stopped. 

“Sue…” Johnny breathed, as his own misery echoed hers and he shuddered. 

She didn’t reply but allowed her tears to fall, safe in the knowledge that Johnny wouldn’t let her see him fighting back tears. She didn’t bother to discuss anything else with him, despite knowing that he’d listen. She wasn’t going to explain her jealousy at the friendship Johnny and Reed were building, encouraged by their bond; nor her irritation that Reed always found time to spend with her brother; she wasn’t going to tell him how stifled Reed made her feel sometimes; and Johnny was never ever going to hear about the problems with their sex life, and Reed’s tendency to lose control of his proportions when he got carried away, or his dominant nature in bed. 

True bonds only formed when two people were truly compatible in heart, mind and soul. Sometimes they developed slowly over time, sometimes they snapped into position with the first skin contact, but maybe she should have taken a hint when it hadn’t happened after all this time. 

“I guess we aren’t quite as compatible as I want us to be.” She sighed softly, rubbing her damp face on Johnny’s t-shirt. 

“Is this about the bond again? Cos you know those are rare.” Johnny said, his low voice steady as he rocked her gently. 

She did know. Less than five percent of sentinels ever found their true guide and most lived happy lives without that extra layer, more than content with a regular bond. On the one hand, she was thrilled that Johnny and Reed had developed one, it was a link to hold her family together and the bonds were just as often platonic as romantic so there was no conflict there; but on the other hand, she was left feeling like a failure for her inability to match Reed when Johnny had managed it without meaning to. 

“You think too much.” Johnny scoffed quietly when she failed to give an answer, and she couldn’t help the inelegant snort of laughter that escaped. 

She pulled back, a real grin tugging at her lips. “Name me one person in this building who doesn’t.” They were all smart people, and overthinking was something they all did on occasion. 

“Hmm…” Her brother grinned back as he tapped a finger on his chin. “The guys on the desk downstairs always look glazed over.” He smirked and held up a finger as she opened a mouth to counter. “Ah, ah, ah… Don’t say that they don’t count. The plebs are people too." 

“I wasn’t going to say that!” She laughed, throwing a light punch at him. “And don’t call them plebs. That’s awful.” 

“Sure thing, mom.” He said with a roll of his eyes as he stepped over to the fridge and began to look through it. 

Sue couldn’t help the warm smile that stayed stretched on her face at that. In their stay at the hospital after Norrin Radd had left their planet, Johnny had quietly admitted to her that he couldn’t remember their mom at all, that Sue’s face was what he saw when he tried to think of her. She was pretty sure she’d been nagging at him about eating at the time, but the memory still made her smile. For once, she didn’t think of the screaming matches that their parents used to get into, but the feeling of security that they had once exuded. 

She always assumed that Johnny couldn’t really remember their parents at all. He’d been five when their mom had died, which was too young to have any truly solid memories to hang onto; and he’d been eight when their dad had died, but his loyal admiration of the man and childish lack of understanding at his actions probably meant Johnny didn’t really know who the man had been. She’d always meant to tell him that their dad had been a drunk and a gambler, killed because he’d failed to pay back money owed, but she’d kept it quiet. That man had had no input in their lives for a long time now, and she refused to be the one to change that. She was happy enough to leave her brother looking up to an idea of what their dad should have been rather than who he was. 

“Do you actually want something to eat, or are you just putting off going to bed?” She asked as he continued to prod unenthusiastically through the fridge. 

He stepped back and shut the door. “I really should just go to bed.” He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “The bond got real stressed when Reed got hurt earlier. It hasn’t settled yet.” 

Bonds could be trained to cope with all sorts, from pain between the two partners, to distance; but Johnny and Reed’s bond was short and strong. They spent too much time together to let their bond develop much distance, living in the same building meant they couldn’t currently spend more than a day apart without getting antsy. Their bond was a strong one though, when they could see each other’s spirit animal when mediated together and met on the spiritual plane, they felt each other’s emotions when they were within a few blocks of each other and she wouldn’t be surprised if it developed into telepathy. 

Unfortunately, it meant the bond was easily upset and left them both with a longing to spend time together until it balanced back out. “I thought you spent time together earlier.” She scolded with a frown. “Why did you come out here if you weren’t ready yet?” 

“Cos I wanted to see you.” He shrugged simply, but she could feel the concern still fluttering around inside him. She softened and tugged him down to press a kiss to his forehead. 

“You’re an idiot. Go sleep on the sofa. If Reed’s up I’ll send him through.” He nodded silently and turned to head out the kitchen. “I love you.” She added on as he stepped through the door. 

“You too.” He replied as he padded away. 

She smiled for a moment at the empty space. She really didn’t know what was going on with her marriage at the moment, or where they would be at the end of it all… but it was a comfort to know that her brother would be there for her through it all, even if he never would admit it out loud. 

She wasn’t alone. 

_\------_

Sue got up in the morning in a decidedly better mood, and so the sight of Johnny and Reed on the couch together made her smile; Johnny had his head tucked under Reed’s chin, and with the scruffy state of his hair, he looked like a child. 

“Hey Sue.” Reed whispered, opening his eyes slowly to smile at her as she stood in the doorway. 

“Is he okay?” She breathed, knowing Reed’s hearing would pick it up. 

The man shrugged slightly. “He was angry. But I think he tired himself out with it.” His hand was rubbing Johnny’s back gently. 

“Yesterday was rough.” She admitted, her eyes skimming over the bruises still visible on the sentinel’s face. “How are you?” 

“A little sore.” He muttered with a slight grin. “But I should be okay once I get up and stretch.” 

“Want some coffee?” she asked as she began to head out the room. 

“I love you. Yes please.” She snorted with laughter as she headed to the kitchen. Some things never changed. 

She flicked the TV on as she grabbed a jug to fill up the water in the machine, trying to decide what it was she needed to do today. She had to go through the most recent accounts and check they were all in line, call the office in Hong Kong to discuss parts that Reed was wanting and a grocery shop needed doing. 

“ _And speaking of developments in technology._ ” The serious young woman on screen was saying. “ _We come to Tony Stark’s shock statement yesterday._ ” 

Sue glanced up at the screen to see Stark holding a press conference as she began to get something to eat. “ _The truth is… I am Iron Man.”_

She watched curiously as the red and gold armour streaked across the screen, the knife to cut her bagel still in hand as she paused. 

“ _And we head to our correspondent in Miami. Dean, what do you have for us?_ ” 

" _Thanks, Carol. Well, we’re in Miami, the home of Tony Stark and it was here we’ve had the most recent sighting of Iron Man.”_

__

“Coffee?” Johnny’s hoarse voice cut through the bubble and she jumped.

__

“It’s on. Just need to wait.” She smiled and ruffled his hair; it was getting a little long now. 

__

“Saw this yesterday.” He mused as his sleep-heavy eyes lifted to the screen. “They called him America’s newest superhero on the show I was watching.”

__

“Really?” She watched as Stark swaggered across the screen, flashing a wide smile at the camera. 

__

“I’m not sure how much time he’ll have for it though.” He added as he helped himself to her bagel. “The guy who was helping run his company sold him to terrorists or something so he’s going to have to do more work there rather than running around and helping other stuff.”

__

“You don’t sound as though you disapprove.” She noted curiously, as Johnny usually hated hypocrites. Tony Stark acting as a playboy had never been an issue because the man had admitted that’s what he was, but she had expected her brother to be at least a little irritated if he claimed to be a hero then didn’t help people.

__

“Stark Industries hires a lot of people.” He replied with a shrug and a bizarre show of maturity. “Might be more important for people to eat than to help old ladies cross the road.”

__

She grabbed a fresh bagel and put it on to toast. There were times when Johnny was clearly not the little boy she’d once known, but a young man with a decent understanding of the world and it made her smile every time. 

__

"Is it today or tomorrow we’re going to State University?” Johnny asked as he poured coffee into four mugs.

__

“State University?” She asked, confused. She hadn’t been aware they had a trip there planned.

__

“Yeah. Reed said we were heading there this week. Kind of combining a Fantastic Four visit with some research project he’s doing.” Jonny told her, frowning at the scowl that settled over her face.

__

“He hasn’t mentioned it.” She said lightly, grabbing her mug and one for Reed. “I’ll just go ask.”

__

She stalked down the corridor before Johnny could stop her and headed into their bedroom, where Reed was combing his hair. 

__

“I… guess I forgot to mention that visit.” He said hesitantly, looking into her eyes through the mirror. He often overheard conversations without meaning to, but she didn’t mind that. 

__

“Is it today?” She asked, trying to keep her voice steady. 

__

He sighed and put the comb on the dresser. “Yeah. I really did think I’d told you. Professor Harrison has some stuff he wanted to show me. We’ve been emailing each other for a while now about this.”

__

She waited until Ben’s loud footsteps had gone passed, before crossing her arms over her chest. “How hard is it to mention something like this? You should be asking us if we can do a visit rather than telling us that we are.”

__

“I know. I know.” He held up his hands. “I definitely talked to Ben and Johnny about it, and I think you were out when I was replying to his message so I meant to say something when you got back.”

__

“And then you got so wrapped up in something else that it slipped your mind.”

__

“Yeah.” He nodded, his expression regretful.

__

She let out a heavy sigh on dropped down to sit on the foot of their bed. “I kind of think we need to talk.”

__

Reed didn’t look surprised. He sat next to her and grasped her hand in his own. “I know.”

__

“This isn’t working, is it?” The words hurt to say, but she could feel the resigned acceptance in Reed already.

__

“I do love you.” Reed said gently, rubbing a thumb over the back of her hand. “But… I can’t say for sure that I’m in love with you. It’s…” he hesitated, then ploughed on. “I think I expected it to be like when we were at MIT, but it wasn’t so I assumed that it was just because we’re about decade older.”

__

“But that’s not all it is.” She finished the thought for him, tears welling up in her eyes as she finally heard the words out loud.

__

"I don't feel like we've had enough quiet moments to really stop and think about where we are.” Reed’s voice cracked in the middle and she gave his hand a squeeze. 

__

“I think we know where we are.” She admitted.

__

“Do… do you want to think it over for a while or…” he asked, grasping her hand tightly.

__

“I already have.” She whispered, curling in on herself. “I’ll move my stuff to another room later.”

__

Reed pulled her into a hug as he shook his head. “No, I’ll move. There’s a bedroom next to my lab I can use. It’s the same size as this anyway.”

__

“Shit.” She swore softly as she began to cry. “All that effort to actually get married…”

__

Reed’s laugh was a little high, but he started to rock her as she felt shudders run through his own body.

__

\------

__

Johnny sat curled up on the sofa, desperately trying to ignore what was going on just down the corridor. Sue and Reed were both crying, with a blunt groaning ache going through them that was sharpening as it pushed deeper. 

__

“Hey, kid. You okay?” Ben’s gruff voice permeated the thick atmosphere that Johnny was wallowing in. “Kid?”

__

There were days when Johnny genuinely envied Ben; he was mundane, free from the mental deluge of emotions that were gushing from the other room. From this distance, his true bond with Reed meant that Johnny could detect every emotions the older man was feeling, especially as he wasn’t shielding himself at the moment; he’d felt the moment of shock, denial and then resignation that had settled into acceptance, even as sorrow coloured them all.

__

He barely even needed the lighter bond he had with his sister, formed over time as two guides with a strong, positive relationship between them, to know what was happening. It had been coming for months now if not longer; they had finally split up. He hid his face in his knees as he quietly admitted to Ben his suspicions. 

__

“Sue and Reed… I think they’ve…” he couldn’t get the words out.

__

Ben sighed and carefully sat down beside him. “And you’re getting a double whammy from them both, huh?” The wide hand on his back was more comforting than he’d expected. 

__

He considered admitting the pain he was in to his teammate, former CO and now friend… but the pain clogging up his head wasn’t his own and so sharing it with someone else didn’t seem quite right. “I hope Reed doesn’t want us all to go to State University today with him.” He said, hoping to get Ben talking as a distraction.

__

“I’d like to say even Reed wouldn’t, but he probably would.” Ben grunted with touch of amusement. “But Susie won’t let him, especially if you aren’t feeling great.”

__

He nodded his head and tried to relax, Ben was right that Sue would keep them here if she thought it best; but to be fair to Reed, he’d be happy to go on his own if he thought Johnny was unwell and needed to be in bed. He’d be fine as long as Reed didn’t spend more than one night away, otherwise Johnny was left with a distracting anxiety and a need to be where Reed was; it could be placated for a few hours by phone calls, but thirty seven hours was how long they had managed on their last attempt and that had been built up out of necessity after they had gotten married; Johnny had _not_ wanted to come along on their honeymoon, but Sue had called him during the first day to say he needed to come stay in a nearby hotel. At that distance, he’d felt a rush of arousal wash through him every time Reed got horny… they’d agreed to never discuss it and never mention it to Sue, though she was probably aware.

__

“I hope they’re still friends.” He commented as he tried to subtly dry his eyes on his knees. “Be awkward around here if not.”

__

“Was thinking we could go to Transylvania.” Ben suddenly said in a glaringly obvious change of subject. 

__

“Huh?”

__

“We got a letter a while ago from some guy out there. A recluse wanting to talk to Reed.”

__

Johnny couldn’t help the grin that flickered across his face, he pulled back to raise an eyebrow at Ben. “A recluse in Transylvania wants to meet with Reed? Out of curiosity, would he be a count?”

__

“If we go, I’m going to suggest leaving you in the trunk.” Ben deadpanned as Johnny cackled about sucking blood in his best Dracula voice, his voice only slightly wobbly as the large man nodded. 

__

“You probably don’t need to worry though. He won’t be interested in you unless he needs a door stop for those gigantic doors they have in castles.” He puffed out a breath as he held his hands apart to show how big Ben was, then laughed as he dodged Ben’s swiping hand and tumbled to the floor. “I’m just sayin’!” 

__

“What are you doing?” Sue’s voice cut through the air, and Johnny grinned up at her from the floor. Her eyes were red, but she felt calm for the moment.

__

“We were talking about going to Transylvania. Maybe Reed and Ben should just go by themselves. I think we’d just be a temptation to the vampires out there cos we’re so pretty.” He informed her as seriously as he could, but he smiled widely as she snorted with laughter. 

__

“Why Transylvania?” She asked as she dropped into Johnny’s spot on the couch. 

__

“Reed had an offer to go out and talk about some invention that’s getting developed.” Ben stated as Johnny shifted into a more comfortable position on the floor. “I’ve never been out there.”

__

“It’d be nice to have a vacation.” Sue mused with a sigh.

__

“Plus Iron Man is around to kick ass while we’re gone.” Johnny added, thinking of the nutters that seemed to crop up on a regular basis.

__

“We’ll see.” Sue nudged him with her foot. “But we should probably mention to Stark that we’re heading out in case he assumes we’re here to take care of things.”

__

“Mention to Stark?” Johnny looked curiously up at her. “You can actually talk to him?”

__

She shook her head. “No. But I have spoken to Ms Potts before, and she gave me her extension number.”

__

“What would we do out there? Is there much to do?” Johnny wondered aloud as he sat up, leaning his back against his sister’s legs.

__

“Hiking, I think. Probably sight-seeing and stuff you can do too.” Ben said, but he sounded interested in the possibilities. “Castles and stuff.”

__

Johnny shut his eyes, relaxing as Sue ran her fingers through his hair. He did enjoy hiking, it didn’t get the adrenaline going in the same way, but he liked the burn in his muscles, the views at the top and the sense of accomplishment that came from completing something.

__

“Can’t remember the last time we had a family vacation.” He sighed. Would he have to talk to Reed about it? Or would Sue be willing to convince him to leave his work behind… would she be able to anymore? He twisted enough to press his cheek against her thigh as he considered the changes that would come from them splitting up. Who would be stuck with Reed-wrangling? Johnny, as his true guide; Ben, as his oldest friend; or Sue, as his soon-to-be ex-wife?

__

“I don’t think we’ve been on one with just the four of us.” She stated, and Johnny frowned at that. It hadn’t been that long since they went skiing in France? But as he thought about it, Victor had been with them on that trip, so it had been a while ago.

__

“I want food.” He decided, standing up. He wanted to be moving while his thoughts raced, so he’d go collect some from down the road. “I’ll be back later.”

__

“See you later, kid.” 

__

“Two hours, Johnny. We aren’t going to the University today so you can do the food shop with me then we’ll look into sorting this vacation.”

__

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be back.”

__


	2. Chapter 2

“It’s cold in here.” Johnny was grumbling as their tour guide led them through the castle. 

Ben snorted slightly, but didn’t bother to pay him any attention. The kid complained about the cold on a regular basis, and Ben wasn’t sure if he was being ironic, or if he felt the changes in temperature more dramatically than he used to. Being unable to feel anything but the most extreme changes in temperature, Ben didn’t find himself very sympathetic.

“Yes.” The woman nodded as she paused, once again waiting for Sue, who was busy taking everything in. “Many old castles stay cool on the inside.”

As Johnny stepped over to read the next information card, Ben smiled at the guide. She was older than them, so hadn’t invoked Johnny’s flirting, and she didn’t seem phased by Ben’s bizarre appearance. It was always nice when he came across those random people who treated him the same as everyone else. 

Reed wasn’t visiting the castle with them. He had actually contacted the scientist out here and they’d met up that morning to discuss sunspots. Johnny had said it sounded like his area, but he’d left with an agreement to talk things over with Reed later on in case any of it was actually relevant to him. The three of them had wanted to do vacation style things while away and hadn’t wanted work to get in the way if it wasn’t an imminent threat. 

“What’s down that way?” Johnny asked as the guide led them up a staircase. “Do you guys have a dungeon?”

She was shaking her head, even as they made their way up. “That way is blocked. There is structural damage, so the whole thing has been sealed long before I started working here.”

As Johnny began to chat with Sue about haunted castles, Ben tried to disperse the feeling of dread rumbling within him. There was definitely something down there, and he couldn’t deny the fact that he wanted to go have a look.

“Are you alright, Ben?” He felt the gentle warmth of his friend seeping into his hardened skin and turned to look down at her. “Just ignore Johnny. I’m sure there aren’t actually ghosts.”

“It’s not him.” Ben stated, unsure of how to explain his unease. “But I feel like I really need to go have a look down that staircase.”

“You must be mundane.” The tour guide said as they spilled out onto the landing at the top of the stairs. “They often complain of headaches and illness around here, and we often find them trying to make their way into the downstairs passage. You can go down but that passageway is sealed, there are large pieces of stone that someone must have moved down there at some point.” She shrugged, though her smile was uncomfortable. “Along that passage is another staircase, but I think that goes up one of the towers here. I’m afraid they aren’t usable though. Anton, one of the old guides who used to work here? He said that many, many years ago, the stairs were intact and that the actual corridor up there had been blocked off. They built a wall to stop the mundanes going down that way.”

“Only mundanes?” Sue asked, her brow raised as she stepped around Ben. 

“There may be something in there.” She admitted, looking unhappy. “But no one can get through and it is sealed up so it is not dangerous. We think that sentinels and guides are protected by our connection to the spiritual realm.”

“But guys like Ben don’t have that extra layer.” Johnny spoke up, and Ben glared as he noticed the kid literally fighting a smile, trying not to add whatever comment had occurred to him just then.

“Shall we move on then?” Sue suggested, her brow wrinkled slightly as she looked concerned. 

Ben smiled as he began to walk. “Thanks Susie.” He pressed a hand to the back of his head, still feeling an ache there. “I have a feeling I could break through into that passage.”

“Let me know if it doesn’t go away.” She said softly. “I’ll see if I can’t pull you close to the spiritual realm for some protection.”

“It wasn’t a problem before we got here, so hopefully it’ll go away.” He smiled at her, feeling awkward. He hated being a bother, especially because he wasn’t a guide or sentinel; made him feel worse than useless to be a burden. 

But as he walked away, the longing to go and have a look only increased. 

\------

“Good morning, Johnny.” Sue’s light voice sang through the hotel restaurant as her brother shuffled over and dropped into the seat beside her. 

He grunted in response and stole her coffee. Reed hid a grin in his own cup and Sue huffed in mock irritation; he was glad that they hadn’t lost the ability to be nice with one another in light of their approaching divorce date, even if things were so noticeably awkward at times that even Reed struggled to ignore it.

“Pebbles?” The young man asked after he’d had a drink, now holding the cup just under his nose. 

Reed shook his head. “He’s not up yet.” Which was a little unusual for Ben, but he had been complaining of a headache when he’d gone to bed last night.

“I’ll check on him in a bit.” Sue said, brushing her long hair out of her face with a slender hand. Not for the first time, Reed half wondered what Mr and Mrs Storm had looked like, to have come out with two such attractive children. “There was something weird about that old castle we were in yesterday.”

No one had mentioned that to him. “Weird how?” He inquired as he placed his empty cup back on the table. 

“Something about how it affects mundanes.” Sue frowned, her eyes flicking over to the elevator.

“That woman said something was sealed in there, but that no one could break the seal… and that they had bricked off a whole tower.” Johnny piped in, looking more awake as concern began to course through his body and along their bond. 

But Sue was shaking her head. “She said the passageway was sealed. For most people, that would be enough…” But Ben was stronger than most people, she didn’t need to finish. 

“I’m going to check on him.” Reed decided, dropping his napkin onto his plate and getting up. The other two stood as well. “You guys can wait here.”

“I'm coming.” Sue informed him, her voice leaving no room for argument, so Reed simply nodded. The two of them headed up as Johnny sat back down and ate his breakfast, the silence between the former couple far less awkward than it had been for some time. 

“I wonder if he’s still sleeping.” He said softly, as he listened through the general noise of the hotel, unable to hear the familiar noises that indicated Ben’s presence. “He said he had a headache last night, when I saw him.” Ben hadn’t exactly stuck around long, but Reed had headed down when he’d felt Johnny arriving back at the hotel. The large man hadn’t stayed to talk about what they had done that day.

“Not just last night.” Sue shook her head, a few stands of blonde hair coming loose from the messy bun she had stuck her hair into that morning. “He mentioned it when we were in that castle.”

“The one that affected mundanes.” He recalled, concern lancing through him as he wondered about the lingering effects and the origin of the Ben’s pain.

Sue stepped out as soon as the doors opened, her hurried footsteps hinting at the worry that her tone of voice hid. “Yeah. He kept talking about that passage way and the tour-guide said that mundanes sometimes try to get down there.”

Reed frowned as they stepped closer to Ben’s room. “He’s not in there.” It was almost silent inside, the hum of the air-con unable to hide the fact that there was no movement on the other side of the door. 

Sue shut her eyes and Reed resisted the urge to shudder as he felt her awareness push lightly through him, but her attention was focussed on the other side of the door. “I can’t feel him in there.” She confirmed, her brow furrowed as she stepped back and pulled out her phone. “Not unless he’s… I’ll ask Johnny to talk to the desk and get another key.” 

One advantage of being well-known, even outside New York, was that things like this were less complicated. He took a deep breath and tried to settle his worry as he could feel it echoing in Johnny, as much as he loved their bond, sometimes their emotions fed into each other and they got overly worked up over things, especially as Johnny had a loose grip on his emotions a lot of the time.

With a sigh, he kept his attention on Johnny, easily able to narrow in on his guide’s voice as he chattered casually away to the hotel manager, who had stated that she needed to come with him as she couldn’t hand over someone else’s room key.

“He sleeping?” Johnny asked, his voice far quieter than usual as they headed over to Sue and Reed.

“Not sure.” Reed replied, as Sue stepped back to let the manager insert her card into the door lock. 

They stepped inside and Sue headed straight for the window to open the curtains as Reed felt the small atom of hope blink out of existence. He didn’t need the sunlight streaming in to see that their friend wasn’t here.

“I guess he went back to the castle.” Johnny noted, but his voice lacked its typical confidence. Reed stepped over the grasp his shoulder as Sue gazed over at them with troubled eyes. 

“The passage was blocked off, but if anyone could get through…” Sue tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before setting off, her steps determined. 

Reed squeezed Johnny’s shoulder and moved off after her. “You said there was a seal? Something different to the blockage?” 

“Apparently.”

Johnny slipped passed him to reach his own room swiping his card but pausing before stepping inside. “All those times he tells me not to do anything stupid, then he goes back to a castle that’s doing things to his brain.”

Reed headed into his own room to grab his jacket before replying as the two waited for Sue to change her shoes over from the cute heels she had been wearing to breakfast. “I don’t think we can hold it against him if there is something actually affecting his cognitive ability.” 

He could feel the unspoken concern flowing through the younger man as Sue came out and they headed down to their rental car. The quiet way he dropped into the backseat of the car without comment was uncharacteristic of him, and Reed genuinely didn’t know how to assure him; he had about a 50% success rate with that at the best of times, as he only let a handful of people close and but he took to heart what those few people said. Reed had learnt that the hard way.

The car ride up to the castle was quiet, with Sue confidently following the sat-nav as the two men were silent, Reed checking his phone for any information he could glean on the area and the castle.

“There’s a link to a vintage newspaper site.” He informed them as the sat-nav instructed them to take the next left. “There is an old paper on here that discusses this area. Apparently this castle is linked to Esteban Corazón de Ablo, who was an alchemist and a magician.”

“Not the ‘balloon animals’ kind.” Johnny said softly.

“The ‘created the elixir of life by trading his soul to a demon’ kind, I’m afraid.” He frowned as he searched for more information. 

“And?” Sue asked, glancing over when he failed to continue. 

“He’s a Spanish guide, but I can’t find why he’s linked to the castle. I think the site is missing a few pages.”

“You think he released this demon, and that it’s stuck in the castle?” Johnny asked, leaning forwards between the two front seats. 

“Probably.” Reed nodded and Sue scolded “Johnny! Seatbelt!”

“That woman said something about a seal. If Ben has gone and broken through it...” Johnny murmured as he sat back, but Reed reciprocated his worry. 

The rest of the drive was quiet, the air filled with ripe tension as they approached the castle. It didn’t look any different, but no one came out to meet them. 

“Should we have called ahead?” Sue wondered aloud as they hurried up the steps to the large front doors.

“And say what?” Johnny asked as they paused, the silence before them almost ominous in nature. “’Hi, we think our friend may have lumbered in last night and broken a seal to some old demon?’ I know it’s a big castle, but Ben isn’t exactly sneaky.”

“Come on.” Reed muttered, pushing passed them to try one of the doors. “Not locked.” But it sure was heavy. It took him and Johnny a moment to pull it open enough to make a gap to slip inside, which Sue did first.

“There’s no one here.” She said as the men followed her in, glancing over at the reception desk where a computer sat. “I don’t think it’s manned all the time, but the door was unlocked…”

Johnny shrugged as he stepped through, but Reed could feel is unease rippling along their bond as they stared down the empty corridor. “It’s a big, heavy door and we are in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they didn’t feel a need to lock it.” But he hung back until Sue made her way down the first corridor.

Under different circumstances, Reed would have been happy to come along and explore. The architecture was beautiful and he would have loved to stop and examine the tapestries, but the knowledge that something had happened to his oldest friend here simply left him with a sense of unease as they headed along.

It was only when Johnny silently took his hand that he realised he had stopped, his focus more on his hearing as he stretched his senses out for some hint of Ben. He didn’t thank the younger man, who wasn’t looking at him, but rather used the extra security of physical contact with his true guide to really expand his hearing, trying to detect the sound of Ben’s heavy footfalls. 

There was something… Was it Ben?

His brow furrowed deeper as he narrowed in on it. Was that the sound of rock on carpet? Was it someone dragging something? He pulled in closer, trying to hear Ben’s breathing, the bodily noises that still occurred, despite his unusual physiology.

“Come on.” He heard something… someone saying. “Reed? You’ve gone too far. Come back.”

And he couldn’t find the other sound any more, but as he opened his eyes, he noticed the concern in Johnny’s blue ones. He stared into them for a long moment, taking in the different shades of blue, the small fleck of green in the right one… 

“Did you get anything from that?” His guide was asking, and Reed took a moment to pull his thoughts back.

“What?”

“You zoned out. Were you trying to find Ben?” Johnny asked, his body close enough for Reed to feel the natural heat that radiated from him.

“There was something, but I couldn’t quite tell what.” He wasn’t the strongest sentinel out there, but he would do his best to find Ben nonetheless. 

“Which way?” A woman’s voice spoke, and Reed wrenched his gaze away from Johnny as he remembered Sue was there too. 

“Up, but behind us.”

“The stairs to the passage are over that way, right?” Johnny checked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “I guess Ben’s trying to break the seal already?”

The siblings turned and hurried further down the corridor, taking what had to be a servant’s staircase as they ascended, climbing two of the steep, narrow stairs at a time. Reed followed them, sniffing as he went. He had three increased senses, his hearing, his smell and his taste. Taste wasn’t much use in this case and smell wasn’t so easy with Ben in this place; his friend didn’t exactly have an over-powering body odour anymore and they were in a place that smelt strongly of rocks and the dust that came along with it. 

As they hurried along another corridor, Reed balanced listening and running, trying to focus on any noises without zoning out. He could definitely hear something now. Rock against stone, or maybe brick? Or was it just that that was what he was expecting to hear. He followed Johnny and Sue down another staircase and they paused, clearly seeing there large rocks had been pushed to one side or shattered.

“How did these get here?” He mused, turned to look at the staircase they had just left. “They’re too big…”

“You did say something about magicians? Maybe they opened a portal and dropped rocks here to seal this demon away. Or maybe they had really small rocks and made them grow.” Johnny replied, and Reed knew the young man was thinking, recognising the look in his eye of when something actually captured his attention long enough to make him wonder.

Sue huffed, her arms folded tightly across her middle. “It doesn’t matter right now. We need to find Ben.”

And Reed didn’t disagree. They headed along, easily spotting where an old door had been ripped out the way, the freshly broken wood lighter in colour than the older surface layer. The stairs were broken, but Johnny was in there first and so Reed and Sue held back as the young man burst into flame and rose carefully up, dodging beams as he went.

“I think you can probably climb up.” Johnny’s voice permeated the stuffy air. “There are barely any stairs left up here, but there are a lot of handholds…” 

He exchanged a look with Sue that clearly stated she saw through Johnny’s overly confident voice too, even without their bonds to the young guide. However, they had no choice. The risk was too high for him to let Johnny go alone.

He had never been more thankful, he decided as he climbed, that his muscles adapted to his changing shape and that he could pull is body weight up on one stretched out arm. The grimy dust gathering beneath his fingers, the small cuts from sharp bits of debris, the musty air that was not easy to breathe in? Irrelevant. All that mattered was climbing slowly up, following the light that Johnny provided and finding Ben. 

Stretching up again and the gaps in the wall became too shallow to hold easily, he reached out to wrap his hands around a large piece of sturdy looking timber than had fallen into the tall stairwell and braced himself in position so that Sue could climb up.

“Johnny? How far?” She called out, before coughing dryly into her shoulder, the dust in the air likely irritating her lungs.

“I’m at the top here… Well, the stairs go higher, but it looks like the Big Guy went this way.”

Reed glanced up, relieved to find that Johnny was nearby. He stayed lit up though, as there were either no windows, or the glass in them was too dirty to let any light in. As the three of them stepped into the next corridor, Reed couldn’t stop a slight smile flicking at the corner of his mouth. “He’s along here.” He stated, relieved that they were getting closer.

Johnny pulled his flame back until there was just a ball of fire dancing in his hand, and he walked in front of both Reed and Sue. It took a surprising amount of will power to allow him to be the first one along, even if it made sense for the one with the light to lead. But Johnny had complained several times before about Sue, Reed and Ben all treating him like a child sometimes…

But Reed could remember grouchy pre-teen that he had been when Sue had first introduced them; stubborn to a fault, with developing mood swings and the pre-growth fat that had hinted at approaching puberty… Sometimes, it barely seemed like more than a year ago, and other times he marvelled at the loud-mouthed young man he’d turned into; confident and attractive in many things, but he allowed his confidence in what he was good at to drown out any hesitance at things he sucked at. He’d always been uncertain about showing people his soft centre, and turning into a celebrity had caused him to hide it away.

He only occasionally showed it to them, and only when something was overwhelming him to the point that he needed to reach out. 

“Does this look like a door that held a seal? Or do you think we need to go further in.” Johnny asked, nervous energy jumping along their bond as they stepped through a doorway and stared at the remains of a wall. 

Sue moved in to rub a hand over her brother’s back. “At least we know that we’re going the right way still.” She pointed out as the younger guide moved off again. “Are we in a tower? Or have we moved off into another area?”

“More stairs. We can climb these ones normally though.” Johnny called back, waiting for them at the foot beyond holding his flame out to the side, making it bigger to illuminate more and then beginning to climb up the next spiral stair way. “Why do all these stairs have a big open space in the middle just there for people to fall down?”

“Are you complaining about Health and Safety?” Sue asked with a chuckle in her voice, and Reed grinned.

“I’m just sayin'!”

Once they reached the top, it was clear they had gone the right way. Ben stood at the end, the unnatural light of magic lighting the solid surface of his face; beside him stood a figure of a man in bizarre clothing and with what looked like two horns protruding from his head. 

“Ben?” He called out, but his friend didn’t look away from the other guy.

“Come on, Pebbles. Let’s go!” Johnny called out, taking a step forward before Reed gently clasped his shoulder to stop him getting closer.

“Please.” Sue said, her tone soothing as she looked over. 

Ben looked over at the sound of her voice, but didn’t approach them. “He needs help, Susie. The villagers trapped him away because they thought he was a vampire, but he is just an alchemist.”

Reed looked over at her, hoping she would know what to say. Ben had always trusted her to be more compassionate, but her ability as a guide had always allowed her to understand what another person was trying to say. If they got this other guy to talk, she could use that the parse out any truth to his words.

“Even so, we need to go. He’s been affecting people for years, remember?”

“If I help him, he can help me.” Ben’s eyes were begging them to understand. “He can make me human.”

“You are human.” Sue replied fiercely, just as stubborn as her brother when it came to things that mattered to her. 

“I’m a walking pile of rocks. He can change that.”

“In exchange for what?” She pleaded, desperate for him to move away from this sorcerer.

“I have the potion ready, but we cannot wait much longer.” The man stated, his low voice smooth and gentle as he gestured to a doorway. “These people who lives were enhanced? Do not let them hold you back.”

“Come on, Big Guy!” Johnny yelled, moving forwards. “Leave this weirdo alone and let’s go.”

“How selfish. My name is Diablo, and this _man_ is simply going to be my bodyguard for a little while. Are you not?”

Ben nodded, and Diablo twisted his fingers; there were sparks, and then the floor began to crumble beneath them. 

“Flame on!” Was the last thing Reed heard before a falling rock struck him on the head and darkness took over.

\------

Johnny sighed as he tipped his head back and allowed the medic to start cleaning bits of gravel out of his face. He could probably just burst into a hot enough flame to melt it out, but he was so exhausted that he wasn’t even sure he could stand up and head to a less crowded area; it wouldn’t heal the actual damage to his skin though, which meant it was easier to lean back and let someone else sort him out.

“You need to be more careful.” Sue said gently, reaching over to grasp his hand gently, her own wrapped in bandages from scrapping them up so badly when she and Reed had fallen. He didn’t need to look down to where his sister knelt on the floor in front of him to know she was frowning; it was the same expression she wore whenever he did something without thinking it through properly.

Johnny grunted in agreement, perfectly aware that his sister was going to be overprotective for a while; she often did when there was a problem that she didn’t want to think about… and this was a pretty big one.

Ben.

The young man still couldn’t quite believe that Ben had actually left with that freakish looking guy in purple tights. Johnny knew Ben dreamed of being human, of being able to touch people without the need for delicate care, but he also knew that Ben had had the chance to be soft and squishy again before; he’d rejected the chance in favour of being able to help the team because, though Johnny had never said so out loud, Ben was a good guy. 

It wasn’t that the Big Guy didn’t have flaws, because he really did, but he wasn’t selfish in the same way Johnny tended to be. He had only recently learnt that his three teammates were firmly in the category of people he would do anything to protect, but he couldn’t say for sure if he would do the same for just anyone… but Ben would. Even without the empathic abilities of a guide, Ben cared.

And now he had left with someone who had promised to change him back to a regular human… 

The cold smear of cream on his face made Johnny jump, and he met the medic’s calm gaze. “Just about done.” She assured him, her fingers scooping more out of a small jar and spreading it down his nose. 

It felt like a missed opportunity not to flirt with her, but he kind of wanted to curl up in front of the TV with Sue and Reed until everything went back to normal…

“Johnny? Come on.” Sue coaxed him up to his feet, and he had to lean on her to keep himself moving. He was beyond ready for bed. “Reed?”

“Sue, Johnny. I’ve had a word with the police chief, but he said we’re okay to head back to the hotel.” Reed informed them, and Johnny wanted to groan unhappily. He didn’t want to be out here anymore. He wanted to settle down at home, with his own crap around him and his team mates nearby. 

“I think we’re all ready for some sleep.” Sue’s soft voice was soothing and Johnny relaxed as she poured him into the back of a car and clambered in after him. “Reed’ll figure out some way to find him. Don’t worry.”

He shut his eyes as Reed climbed into the driver’s seat, not yet ready to admit the real problem.

After they had fallen? He hadn’t even tried to reason with them anymore; he’d just seen red and thrown fireball and fireball at that Diablo guy, unwilling to try anything too big in case he hurt Ben, but unable to calm down enough to speak.

But the magician had wipe the floor with his face… or rather, his face with the floor. He’d had bits of rock pelted at him again and again, varying sizes from all directions until he’d been so worn down trying to keep them out of his own way without letting Diablo float any closer to Reed and Sue, who had been unconscious, but only a few floors down, that he’d dropped to the ground near Ben and pummelled with the rock until he’d passed out. 

And Ben had done nothing.

The thought that he’d lain down at Ben’s feet and the Big Guy had ignored him hurt more than the physical injuries. He knew Ben wanted to be fully human again, but even so…

Why?


End file.
